How to Convert UTC Time To User's Local Time in Django

Question

I undrestand that this question is repeated, but unfortunately I cannot find any answer.

My impression is that Django already takes care of converting server time to local user as long as I have

TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
USE_TZ = True

in my settings.

Even more if the db is postgresql that setting also doesn't matter and every thing will be still converted.

however I tried all the followings:

{% load tz %}
{{ obj.date }}
{{ obj.date|localtime }}
{{ obj.date | timezone:"Canada/Mountain" }}

and only last one works and the rest gives me UTC time. Last one also is not useful as the time would be only correct for users in that zone.

I was wondering if I am missing anything here.

I have a very simple test model:

class TimeObject(models.Model):
    date = models.DateTimeField(auto_now=True)

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Dec 06 '20 at 23:35

0

My impression is that Django already takes care of converting server time to local

Unfortunately that is incorrect.

As discussed here, there's no automatic way of knowing what the user's timezone is. You need to figure that out in some other way (it could be saved as a user setting, for example). Then you need to activate() that timezone. Once you do, Django will perform the conversion.

answered Dec 06 '20 at 23:35

Kevin Christopher Henry

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where would be the best place to `activate()` local timezone in a Django Project globally? – Nabat Farsi Dec 07 '20 at 00:15
@NabatFarsi: That depends on how you're determining the user's time zone, but one good way is to do it in middleware, as shown in the linked documentation. – Kevin Christopher Henry Dec 07 '20 at 00:26

How to Convert UTC Time To User's Local Time in Django

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